Bringing Down the House
by mangadreams
Summary: Post Haunted Island Movie. Things are set in motion that will either bring down the Centre or kill Miss Parker. Will Jarod be able to save her from herself before it is too late.
1. Chapter 1

_I do not own the Pretender or any of the characters. If I did they would have finished the third movie and wrapped up the series!_

The trip back to Centre was mostly silent. Lyle and Raines were both undoubtedly plotting against each other and for the moment ignoring her which suited her just fine. Her mind was in turmoil nothing was right and things seemed more complicated and insurmountable than ever. Jarod had escaped the plane quickly after landing it. Leaving them all chasing their tails. Same old, same old.

Come with me.

Sometimes she really did hate Jarod. He made it sound so easy and it wasn't.

Chose another path.

She would love to.

Run away with him.

No.

If she was going to be honest she would love to do that to. Jarod was her first and only real friend and she did have feeling for him. But it wasn't that simple with the Centre it never was. She had two brothers that were missing and little Daniel was only 2 and she did not even want to think of what they were doing to Ethan if they had their hands on him. And if she left what would happen to Broots and little Debbie the Centre was not kind to people that had out lived their usefulness. As for Sydney most likely his connection to Jarod would keep him alive but what happened the next time she was not there to cover up his small indiscretions.

Leave. Run away. How?

She had hurt Jarod she could see it before they left on the plane. Another bridge burned but she could not help it. Besides Jarod was safer and better off without her people who were involved with the Parkers had a nasty habit of turning up dead. The two of them on the run together would be far too easy to track. And that ship had sailed. She laughed a little remembering his cool, well planned escape and Lyle's quick cover up. Lyle looked at her and she gave him an evil smile. The man might be her brother but he made her skin crawl. Looking at Raines she gave a shrug, some apples did not fall far from their trees. Jarod should have known there was no possibility of a private conversation in the limo the Centre always listens. He tended to lead with his heart instead of his head and she did not have that luxury. Any weaknesses in that direction had died with Tommy and she was not going to let them take anything else away from her.

She gave herself a quick mental shake and went back to planning. She had to find her brothers remove those she cared for from harm and develop an exit strategy. Her father, Mr. Parker not the sperm donor in front of her had set the wheels in motion by destroying the scrolls; it was up to her to take down the Centre. The Parker legacy of evil died with her and Lyle. Her brothers were the future and she would do whatever she had to keep them from that taint. Planning was everything and the first thing was Broots. He and little Debbie were going to disappear and the Centre would never find them. The first stone pulled from the foundation and she was going to enjoy watching it all tumble down.

The Centre might have decided that females would never make good Pretenders. They were too soft, too emotional, too caring. But they did that study before they made Miss Parker. And Miss Parker was none of those things and all of those things. They really didn't stand a chance. They had about 6 months before she took them down. She had begun her plans shortly after Tommy's death and had just been waiting for the right time to execute them. It was just a matter of time.


	2. No more chasing

It had been longer than 6 months. Things at the Centre had a habit of getting complicated though and any plan worth doing is worth doing well. Getting Broots and Debbie away had taken some work. Broots didn't want to leave but once she had explained the situation he had agreed. He and Debbie had made it to California. Sydney had been more difficult when she has SIM him it was apparent that he would never leave his work or the Centre. Unfortunately it called for desperate measures and Sydney was currently occupied and out of harm's way. Her "little brother" was more or less situated. And Ethan should be arriving at his destination any moment now.

The home phone rang and she smiled right on time more or less.

"What" she barked not wanting to disappoint.

"Miss Parker, how are you doing" Jarod said a smile in his voice, "Did you receive my latest gift I had it made especially for you and that special someone".

"It's late Lab Rat, go find yourself a life", she muttered in dark tones a smirk hovering on her lips as she thought about the his and hers body armor he had left her in his latest lair. She almost wished she could have been there to see the first hand reactions of the Sweepers she had had to settle for terrorizing them when they returned. The man could infuriate her to no end.

"Miss Parker, you have not been holding up your end of the bargain. I am running but I'm pretty sure you are not chasing. Or else Broots is losing his touch" Jarod said trying to draw her out.

"I'm fairly certain you are aware that Broots left the Center sometime back. And maybe I have found more interesting things to occupy my time" she said smartly pouring herself a drink.

"That seems to have left you at more of a disadvantage than it should have of course it could just be that you are slipping. How about I stand still for awhile and let you catch up" Jarod said trying to bait her only to feel baffled as he her snort of laughter over the line.

"I thought you were tired of the 'you run, I chase', Jarod. You haven't called in months I figured you didn't fancy me anymore"; she goaded softly as she grabbed the drink and then slammed it back.

"Come on Parker. That last pretend I could not have been any more obvious if I had shown up naked with a neon sign at the Centre." Jarod said not about to let her derail him. He smiled a second as he heard her choke. He waited a second and then said "Parker are you in trouble. I have heard what is going on with the Centre. I can help you..."

"Could you? Why would you want to?" She said as she poured another drink and briskly cut off Jarod. "Don't sweat it Lab Rat I don't need you _here_".

Jarod felt the sharp pain of yet another rejection from Miss Parker and lashed out. "No because you don't need anyone do you. If you love someone they leave. So you just push away everyone that might care about you. Even Broots and Sydney have left and you are all alone just the way you like it. You won't even try to see another way."

"Wow, with that type of deep insight your psychoanalyst gig must be going swimmingly. I'm surprised they are not pounding down your door as we speak." Parker said sarcasm dripping. "Wait maybe it is the rain that keeps them away, they are too depressed to even go out. Late fall in the Northwest has always felt dreary to me".

Jarod almost stopped breathing at the realization she knew where he was. He had not left any clues here it was a short pretend to gain skills and set up for the next one. How had she found him? At any moment she would be pounding at the door ready to take him in.

Wait. He had called her at home. She was not coming at all.

"What game are you playing Parker?" he snarled angrily as grabbed his bag and threw in a few essentials.

"A very deep, dark and hopeless one I'm afraid." she paused for a moment.

"Hey do you think that we would have been friends as kids. I mean without the Centre. Just as Parker and Jarod would we have picked each other or would we have still been alone", she said sadness in her voice.

"Parker, can we do this later. I'm a little busy at the moment you know running for my life and all" Jarod said his head spinning. He paused a moment as he heard feedback on the phone.

"We really can't but that's okay. And you are on a tight schedule Lyle bugged my phone. See you are not the only one who gets upset when I refuse to get on my wheel. ", she said with a feeble attempt at humor, "You have about 15 minutes".

"Parker…" Jarod said frustration evident in his voice.

"I win Genius you lose this time. I really loved playing and don't forget me. Time to run away now. I expect you will be very busy very soon." With that Parker started to hang up the phone.

"Wait" Jarod said "I would have wanted to be your friend no matter where we met. Your smile lit up the world.

Parker smiled as she heard the phone disconnect.


	3. Family Ties

Still not mine. Thank you for the reviews and the critiques. I will work on the grammar issues. Yes it is going to grim here and there but I need it for the plot. I will try to balance with humor.

It only took Jarod 5 minutes to pack and leave his room. He was not about to trust Parker to keep to her 15 minutes. It occurred to Jarod that she toying with him and did not have his exact location. But Parker did not play that way and if she said she knew where he was then she most likely did. She had sounded odd on the phone, not like herself at all and it made him wary. What bothered him most was that she seemed to have no interest in their game of chase and run anymore. It was not like Parker to quit or give up. Jarod shrugged and moved quickly to the parking area. Figuring out Parker was never simple and he would have to wait until he reached safety to try.

He had almost reached his car when he saw the man leaning against the car. He was about to turn to flee when he saw who it was.

"Ethan?"

"Miss Parker sent me. She said to give this to you" Ethan said walking over to his brother and holding out an envelope.

Jarod ignored the envelope Ethan was holding and grabbed Ethan and said with a sense of urgency "Get in the car we have to go." He was in the car and pulling out before Ethan could close the door.

Parker laughed softly she set the phone down. Being ahead of Boy Genius: 100.00 dollars, disconcerting him with mysterious bull crap 500.00 dollars, sending him running into the night with no warning: priceless. She took a perverse pleasure in being the one pulling the strings for once. Honestly, she could have accomplished her goal with less of the cloak and dagger but the truth, however petty, was that it was just too good of an opportunity to pass up. Besides if he had not called her then he could have left at his leisure. She had lied about the 15 minutes but Ethan was there already she could feel it and it was time to get all the players in place. And when all was said and done at least Wonder Boy will get his happy ending, his family reunited and she at best was exchanging one hell for another.

There was a certain amount of satisfaction in watching plans come to fruition. In the end it was not the FBI Parker sent after the Centre, it was the IRS. Criminal charges would come later. The IRS wanted the billions owed to them and the investigation would lead to the Centre downfall. It had been a simple matter of having Broots hack the income and earnings documents before he left. The Centre was no more honest with their taxes than it was with anything else.

Parker had flooded the lower sublevels several months ago. She was still amazed that the very obvious weakness had never been exploited. A few carefully placed charges was all it took in the end, building so many sublevels so close to the ocean made the task easy enough to accomplish. The flooding forced Raines to move many of the inhabitants of the Centre away. It was during this time that Angelo had finally left, she had worried at first but she felt that he was safe. The flooding had removed many people from harm's way and placed a great deal more in the path of rescue. A few more weeks and everything should be in place.

_It doesn't have to be this way. You don't have to be alone._

Parker concentrated for a moment and blocked the voices. She knew they didn't approve but that really did not matter to her anymore. Alone was fine with her people couldn't betray, manipulate, and die on you if you were alone. Besides, she had no more time for voices at the moment. Miss Parker had a meeting with a man about a certain 8x12 room and a term of occupancy to negotiate on the off chance she beat the odds. After all a 90% probability of death did leave a chance that she would need to include the future in her plans.

"I want the perpetrator caught and caught now." Mr. Raines wheezed out. "Either you find them or your use to me is limited Mr. Lyle. I will not tolerate another failure. Is that clear?"

"Crystal." Lyle muttered.

Raines waived dismissively and Lyle turned on his heel and left the office. He was not going to give the old ghoul the opportunity to remove him. Lyle would get to the bottom of the string of 'misfortunes' that had befalling the Centre. He knew that Raines thought Jarod was behind them but Lyle was certain it was not. The plan was direct, lethal, and was aimed to cut the Centre off by the balls. In short, his sister was in it up to her pretty little neck and he was finally going to get the satisfaction of taking her down.

He was almost ready to put some plans of his own into action. Lyle smiled an angelic smile that was marred by the coldness of his eyes. He wondered how many days she would hold out he hoped it would be awhile. He was going to get to know his beautiful sister very well. Lyle whistled as he left the Centre he had a few preparations that still needed to be made.


End file.
